Reconstruction:Proto-Japonic/pitunsi

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This Proto-Japonic entry contains reconstructed terms and roots. As such, the term(s) in this entry are not directly attested, but are hypothesized to have existed based on comparative evidence.

Proto-Japonic

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Etymology

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According to Martin (1987), possibly a compound of *pi (unknown, perhaps the same pi found in *pinkay (beard)) +‎ *tu (completion particle) +‎ *-n- (possibly a contraction of the genitive particle (no)) +‎ *-(u)si (related to animals, as in (shishi, meat, obsolete), (shishi, animal (used for meat), obsolete), or possibly (ushi, cow, ox)).

That said, Martin's suggested compound is problematic.

  • Completion suffix -tu only attaches to verbs.
  • There is genitive particle tu, but this is never followed by genitive no.
  • The case for unreduplicated si is weak; the "meat" sense is only ever attested as sisi, never as si.

Noun

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*pitunsi

  1. goat
  2. sheep

Descendants

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  • Old Japanese: (pi1tuzi)
    • Japanese: (hitsuji, sheep)